JANUARY 26, 2013

Horner not only team boss at Maranello

Christian Horner was not at Maranello recently to discuss his or Adrian Newey's possible switch to Ferrari.

When the Red Bull team boss was spotted at Ferrari's fabled headquarters, it fired into action the speculative minds of the Italian and - in turn - the international press.

Actually, according to German correspondent Michael Schmidt, also at Maranello for the very same meeting were Bernie Ecclestone, Martin Whitmarsh and Niki Lauda.

They were sitting with Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, to discuss the incomplete 2013 Concorde Agreement.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, the only document agreed so far is a 'financial agreement', with teams sharing 60 per cent of the sport's revenue and top teams like Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes receiving an even bigger slice.

But the governing FIA, pushing reportedly for a $40 million slice, is yet to sign, meaning that the processes for agreeing and enforcing rules are currently up in the air.

A bone of contention is the issue of cost control, with the smaller teams pressing for a 'budget cap', and the bigger teams obviously not wanting to sign up to that.

"As long as there is no consensus," wrote Schmidt, "there is a legal vacuum."